Building Resilient Scientific Societies - Strategic and Financial Planning
AIBS has announced a new webinar, Building Resilient Scientific Societies: Strategic and Financial Planning, which will take place November 11, 2020 at 2:00pm ET. (Source: Public Policy Reports)
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 9, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Building More Resilient Organizations - Strategic and Financial Planning
AIBS has announced a new webinar, Building More Resilient Organizations: Strategic and Financial Planning, which will take place November 11, 2020 at 2:00pm ET. (Source: Public Policy Reports)
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 9, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Joint Letter to OMB on Federal Diversity Training Changes
The undersigned scientific societies strongly urge the Administration to rescind its elimination of federal employee training programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion as specified in the Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies issued September 4th, 2020 and the September 22nd Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping. Related StoriesMultisociety Letter Urging Rigorous Assessment of COVID-19 Vaccine Safety and EfficacyWHO, NASEM Unveil COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation PlansLatest Public Policy Report (Source: Public Policy Reports)
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 7, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Short Takes
Members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, led by Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), have introduced bipartisan legislation to create a new postdoctoral fellowship program at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help keep early career researchers whose employment opportunities have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the STEM pipeline. "I am deeply concerned about the disappearance of STEM job opportunities and the potential long-term consequences for our STEM pipeline," stated Chairwoman Johnson. "For established researchers, the COVID-19 crisis has severely limited their access to thei...
Source: Public Policy Reports - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Last Chance to Enter the 2020 Faces of Biology Photo Contest
Enter the Faces of Biology Photo Contest for your chance to win $250 and to have your photo appear on the cover of the journal BioScience.
The competition, sponsored by the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), recognizes scientists who use imagery to communicate aspects of biological research to the public and policymakers.
The theme of the contest is “Faces of Biology.” Photographs entered into the contest must depict a person, such as a scientist, researcher, collections curator, technician, or student, engaging in biological research. The depicted research may occur outside, in a lab, with a n...
Source: Public Policy Reports - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
SPNHC Panel Discussion on Actions to Conserve Biodiversity
The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) is hosting a panel discussion to consider how the biological collections community can most effectively contribute to protecting biodiversity.
Join the SPNHC Biodiversity Crisis Response Committee and a panel of five experts on October 7, 2020 from 11:00 - 1:00 PM EDT.
Panelists include:
Dr. Tara Cornelisse, an insect conservation biologist and Senior Scientist with the Endangered Species Program at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Dr. Robert Gropp, Executive Director of the American Institute of Biological Sciences.
Dr. Rebecca Johnson, ...
Source: Public Policy Reports - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Climate Science Critic to be Appointed as NOAA Chief Scientist
The White House will appoint Dr. Ryan Maue, a meteorologist and former researcher at the Cato Institute, to serve as the new Chief Scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), according to The Washington Post.
Maue currently serves as the developer of weathermodels.com, a website that offers weather related information, maps, and tools. He previously worked as an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, a Libertarian think tank involved in efforts to challenge the scientific consensus on climate change.
Maue acknowledges that humans contribute to climate change but has challenged connections bet...
Source: Public Policy Reports - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
WHO, NASEM Unveil COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Plans
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a preliminary framework for the global allocation of COVID-19 vaccines when they become available. The plan is intended to guide policymakers at the global, regional, and national level in their allocation and prioritization decisions about vaccines.
WHO’s “fair allocation mechanism” emphasizes equitable allocation of vaccines and lists groups of people that should have priority access. The plan proposes vaccine distribution in two phases. In the first phase, all countries would receive vaccine doses in proportion to their population size - initially enoug...
Source: Public Policy Reports - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Global Biodiversity Goals Not Being Met, Says UN Report
A new report from the United Nations (UN) concludes that the world has not met any of the targets set 10 years ago by the Convention on Biological Diversity for protecting nature.
The Global Biodiversity Outlook 5, published by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on September 15, 2020, serves as a final report card on progress on the 20 global biodiversity targets, known as the Aichi biodiversity targets, established in 2010 with a ten year deadline. The report found that despite some progress, natural habitats have continued to shrink, large numbers of species remain threatened by extinction from human activi...
Source: Public Policy Reports - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
American Society of Human Genetics Denounces Unethical Use of False Genetic " Theories "
The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) has issued a statement reinforcing facts about human genetics and expressing strong opposition to efforts that bend genetics knowledge for social or political ends.
The statement reads, in part: “Genetics demonstrates that humans cannot be divided into biologically distinct subcategories or races, and any efforts to claim the superiority of humans based on any genetic ancestry have no scientific evidence. Moreover, it is inaccurate to claim genetics as the determinative factor in human strengths or outcomes when education, environment, wealth, and health care access are ...
Source: Public Policy Reports - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
NASEM: Biological Collections Need National Strategy, Increased Investment
According to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), biological collections - living and natural history specimens, biological materials, and data in museums, stock centers, research centers, and universities - are in need of long-term financial sustainability, digitization, recruitment and support of a diverse workforce, and infrastructure upgrades.
The report, Biological Collections: Ensuring Critical Research and Education for the 21st Century, which was sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), argues that biological collections are an “invaluable, and ...
Source: Public Policy Reports - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Congress to Pass Stopgap Measure to Avoid Shutdown
With negotiations over COVID-19 pandemic relief stalled, lawmakers are looking to pass a stopgap funding bill to keep the government operational in the new fiscal year which starts on October 1. A stopgap funding measure is required because the House and Senate have not yet agreed on and passed appropriations bills to fund the government in fiscal year 2021.
After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reached an agreement to pursue a clean short-term spending bill earlier this month, the House passed a bipartisan continuing resolution on September 22 extending federal funding through Dece...
Source: Public Policy Reports - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
WHO, NASEM Unveil COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Plans
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a preliminary framework for the global allocation of COVID-19 vaccines when they become available. The plan is intended to guide policymakers at the global, regional, and national level in their allocation and prioritization decisions about vaccines. (Source: Public Policy Reports)
Source: Public Policy Reports - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Multisociety Letter Urging Rigorous Assessment of COVID-19 Vaccine Safety and Efficacy
As representatives of hundreds of thousands of scientists across the country, we write to urge you to adhere to stringent scientific and medical standards as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prepares to assess the safety and efficacy of vaccine candidates that are currently in phase III clinical trials. (Source: Public Policy Reports)
Source: Public Policy Reports - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Climate Science Critic to be Appointed as NOAA Chief Scientist
The White House will appoint Dr. Ryan Maue, a meteorologist and former researcher at the Cato Institute, to serve as the new Chief Scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), according to The Washington Post. (Source: Public Policy Reports)
Source: Public Policy Reports - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
